Medical research has demonstrated the importance of maintaining adequate hydration while engaging in strenuous physical activities, such as bicycling or mountain climbing. In the not too distant past, participants in such activities carried their water in bottles or canteens from which they drank periodically. More recently, personal hydration systems have been developed which allow users to drink more or less continuously while engaged in sporting or recreational activities. These personal hydration systems typically have a bag-like fluid reservoir that is carried in a back- or waist-mounted pack. A long flexible tube is connected to the reservoir through an exit port at one end and terminates in a mouthpiece at the other end. The tube is long enough to allow the mouthpiece to be carried in the user's mouth to enable the user to draw water from the reservoir at will. Examples of hydration systems and mouthpieces therefor are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,727,714, 5,060,833, 5,085,349, and 6,070,767, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Although personal hydration systems have proven to be a great advance over traditional water bottles, they do suffer from some drawbacks. One drawback is that the components of the hydration system downstream from the fluid reservoir tend to be either permanently secured together, or else secured together via a tight friction fit that tends to be difficult to establish or release. Both of these structures provide effective fluid-tight seals. However, neither permits components to be quickly and repeatedly interchanged by a user.